


Tell Me We'll Never Get Used To It

by moretomhardy



Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: Belleteyn (The Witcher), Cutagens | Cute Effects of Mutagens (The Witcher), Developing Relationship, Five Times, Love Confessions, M/M, Winter At Kaer Morhen, Witcher Mutagens, witcher mutations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28543704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretomhardy/pseuds/moretomhardy
Summary: Five times Jaskier learned about one of Geralt's non-human behaviours, plus one time Geralt was all too human.akaThe development of Geralt and Jaskier's relationship over the years, blatantly ignoring most events from canon.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 35
Kudos: 571
Collections: The Witcher Secret Santa 2020





	1. Eye Shine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [redlightofdawn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redlightofdawn/gifts).



> Written for redlightofdawn on tumblr for The Witcher Secret Santa. They said "Geralt with weird non-human traits (behavioral or biological) is always A++" so I took that and ran with it. I hope you like!

The first time Jaskier came back to camp from a piss to see Geralt sitting by the fire, he nearly shrieked in surprise. Geralt was sitting across the fire from where Jaskier had disappeared to, and when he looked up at the noise Jaskier made approaching his eyes caught the light and reflected it like a cat's. It made sense, Jaskier supposed, since Geralt's eyes were overall very catlike, what with the golden yellow color and the slitted pupils.

He calmed himself down and continued his path toward the log he'd been sitting on next to Geralt. Geralt gave him a strange look as he sat down, but Jaskier did his best to pay it no mind. Geralt was constantly giving him looks like he didn't know what sort of peculiar creature Jaskier was -- they'd only been travelling together for a couple of days, but Jaskier was already very familiar with most people's reactions of fear or disgust when faced with Geralt even at his most non-threatening. Jaskier didn't hold it against Geralt that he would be suspicious of Jaskier acting so differently than any other human he encountered.

"So, the eyes," Jaskier said, breaking the silence, "can you see in the dark?"

Geralt gave Jaskier another one of those side-long looks before refocusing on his hands, where he was darning a sock that seemed more patch than original material. "Better than you," he grunted.

"How much better?" Jaskier pressed, leaning a little closer.

Geralt shrugged and leaned a little farther away from Jaskier. "Been a long time since I was human."

"Well how much light do you really need to darn that sock?"

Geralt hummed and furrowed his brow. "Could do it on a half moon with a clear night by looking. Do it by feel otherwise."

Jaskier pulled out his notebook and made sure to scribble down that fascinating little factoid. Probably wouldn't make it into a song on it's own, but could be useful for setting the scene at some point.

Geralt watched him distrustfully and scooted a little farther down the log.


	2. Potions

Jaskier had been strictly forbidden from following Geralt on his latest contract, Geralt insisting that the monster was too dangerous for Jaskier to be anywhere near the vicinity. So there Jaskier was, left behind with Roach like another piece of baggage, melting in the hot, humid forest while Geralt was off fighting somewhere deeper in the trees.

"This really is insufferable," Jaskier groaned to Roach, fanning himself with his journal. "How do you stand to be left behind like this in such awful heat for who knows how long?"

Roach swished her tail and kept on grazing, completely unimpressed with Jaskier.

"Oh, of course you're used to it, I'm sure he's been doing this sort of thing to you since you were a filly." Jaskier stripped off his doublet and folded it into his lute case, grimacing as he felt sweat trickle down his back. "Next time I will stay behind at the inn and save myself some misery," Jaskier groused.

"That's exactly what I told you to do," Geralt growled from behind Jaskier.

Jaskier yelped and shot to his feet, whirling around to find Geralt standing at the edge of the clearing, a severed head clutched in one fist. Jaskier's heart hammered harder as he took in the rest of Geralt's appearance: eyes black as coal, skin whiter than paper, veins standing out dark, and streaked with looked like black blood.

"Could you make some noise when you walk?" Jaskier choked out, trying to catch his breath from the fright.

Geralt hummed and crossed the clearing slowly, approaching Roach to attach his grisly trophy to her saddle. "Doesn't usually work in my favor."

"What, making noise?" Jaskier cleared his throat when his voice came out as a squeak. "Sure, maybe on your monster hunts, but it would help you with your human problems."

"The only human problem I have is you," Geralt grunted as he mounted Roach and pointed her head back towards town.

"Rude!" Jaskier gasped, grabbing his lute and trotting after Roach. "People applauded your return in Haddon thanks to me! You have many human problems and I am solving them, thank you very much!"

Geralt just grunted again, but he did slow Roach up for a few steps so Jaskier could catch up.

Jaskier grinned up at him. "Now will you tell me what has happened to your eyes?"

"Took a couple of potions to make me stronger."

"And did that cause the rest of the... changes to your appearance as well?"

Geralt nodded.

"Fascinating, how do these potions work?"

"Through my mutations."

"Okay, that answers absolutely nothing. What are they made out of?"

"Poisons."

"Poisons, are you serious? Geralt?"

Geralt kept his mouth shut after that and refused to answer any more questions beyond giving Jaskier as series of increasingly annoyed glares. By the time they made it back to town Geralt's appearance had mostly returned to normal, beyond still being a bit pale.

"I suppose I gained something from spending the afternoon boiling out there," Jaskier sighed to himself as Geralt took the disgusting head with him into the alderman's house. "But honestly, mutations and poisons, could he be any more frustrating?"


	3. Enhanced Senses

"Civilization at last," Jaskier sighed as they caught sight of the walls of Novigrad on the horizon.

"We've been in civilization for days," Geralt grumbled, pulling his cloak up over his head.

"That doesn't really disguise you very well, you know. No one puts their hood up in such fine weather unless they're hiding something."

Geralt growled and didn't look at Jaskier. He was right in that they'd been encountering more and more frequent settlements and small towns as they approached Novigrad, and it was clearly putting Geralt on edge. Jaskier thought Geralt might not ever go to a city at all if he had the choice, but his armour was getting truly ragged and he'd finally saved up enough for replacements that he could evidently only get in cities.

"Did witchers make their own armour, before the pogroms?" Jaskier asked.

"Yes," Geralt said, frowning. "It was usually crippled witchers, or humans living in witcher keeps, but we used to be able to restock on almost everything we needed over the winter. Now I've got to do this." He curled his lip at the approaching city.

Jaskier hummed and filed that incredible tidbit of information away to ask about in more detail when they got out to the wilderness again and Geralt would be more receptive to slightly invasive questions.

"Well, I'm glad to get to a proper city again," Jaskier said cheerfully. "With any luck I'll have one of my songs catch on and get really popular! That's when I'll start making real strides, if I can get a city interested in my work."

Geralt hummed and was silent for a moment before saying, "Will you want to stay here?"

"What, without my muse? No, Geralt, you're not slipping me that easily."

"No, I mean--" Geralt gave a frustrated grunt. "If you were on your own, would you want to stay longer?"

"I don't know." Jaskier rubbed at his lute strap. "My usual method from before I met you was to stay in one place until I got chased out of all the taverns that let me play, but I don't tend to get chased out so much anymore."

Geralt hummed again and was quiet until they'd made it passed the city gates. They'd arrived just at peak market hours, and Geralt had to dismount and lead Roach through the throngs of people out on the streets. He marched with single-minded determination towards his destination at the armourer he preferred.

Jaskier tried to wander off to a few other booths that looked interesting, but Geralt grabbed him by the arm each time and dragged him along in his wake.

"Oh, come on, Geralt," Jaskier groaned as Geralt pulled him away from a particularly delightful looking journal shop. "Can't we stop to look at a couple more things on the way? I know your errand is the whole reason we came to the city at all, but surely we can spare the time for just a few detours?"

"We'll come back in the morning when it's less crowded," Geralt said, then repeated the same line whenever Jaskier tried to dart off to look at something interesting that had caught his eye.

"We can't guarantee that all of these same vendors will even be here tomorrow," Jaskier whined as he was dragged away from a clothing shop that looked absolutely delightful. "You have to strike while the iron is hot for some of these sorts of shops."

"That's a risk I can bear to take," Geralt growled, face set in an intense frown.

"Of course you'll take that risk, you're not invested at all! I see we're still on the way to your armourer, even though we could surely wait for the morning when it's less crowded for that as well!"

Geralt growled under his breath and tightened his grip on Jaskier's arm. "She'll still be there, of course, but the sooner I can get my order in the sooner we can get out of this town. I don't want to hang around burning money on inns any longer than I must."

Jaskier hummed and took in the stiff set of Geralt's shoulders, and the tense set of his jaw that made Jaskier's poor teeth hurt in sympathy for Geralt's. "Fine. But I will come and see these shops tomorrow, whether you come with me or not."

After they had finally made it to Geralt's armourer, placed an order, and then waded back through the hoards of people choking the streets to an inn, Jaskier set a plate of dinner and a mug of ale in front of Geralt and started in on questioning him.

"Why do you hate Novigrad so much?"

"Why does anyone hate cities," Geralt grumbled as he pulled his meal closer to himself and started bolting it down like he was afraid Jaskier was going to steal it from him. "They smell terrible and the noise is inescapable. And there's almost never work for witchers." Geralt tacked the last on like an afterthought.

"Smelly and noisy, hm," Jaskier said consideringly. "So it's a witcher problem, then?"

"All witchers hate cities," Geralt scowled down at his food. "Besides everything else, people hate the sight of us, half the shops won't sell to witchers on principle, and most of the other half overcharge. It's useless to come to a city unless I've got a specific errand I can't accomplish anywhere else."

"That's a shame," Jaskier frowned. "What would you have done if your armourer hadn't worked with witchers?"

"Left." Geralt shoved a hunk of bread into his mouth, marking the end of that incredibly illuminating answer.

"This one seemed to know you, though, so I suppose you've visited her before."

Geralt swallowed. "I have. And her mother before her."

"Quite a loyal customer, you'd think more shops would appreciate that."

"Not exactly worth it when you think witchers carry disease and spread sterility."

"I suppose I should add those to my pile of rumours to dispel," Jaskier grabbed his notebook. "Have to think some on how to make that into a catchy rhyme."

\---

It took three days for Geralt's armourer to to complete his order, and Geralt spent most of that time pacing around their room at the inn or fussing over Roach in the stables.

Jaskier dragged Geralt out to the market again early the next morning, when it wasn't so crowded. At first it was fine. Geralt was only interested in terribly boring things like a new coil of rope and a dinner knife, but none of the vendors seemed hostile, despite what Geralt had said before. Although that might have been by design; the merchants Geralt did approach all seemed to greet him by name, and he tended to stay well back of many of those that Jaskier visited.

That changed when the market started to get more crowded -- Geralt started to stick closer to Jaskier as they made their way around. When Jaskier approached a particularly exquisite looking jewelry stand the vendor snapped, "step back, mutant, I won't serve your kind."

Geralt immediately backed off.

"What a shame," Jaskier said, "I was very much looking forward to those." He turned on his heel and followed after Geralt, ignoring the calls of the vendor after him.

"You don't have to do that," Geralt said. "You'll limit yourself a lot only going places that won't chase me off."

"Geralt, don't be ridiculous, of course I have to do that. I'm hardly going to give my very hard earned money to some asshole who doesn't think you deserve basic human decency. Now come on, let's see if we can find a tolerable jewelry maker here."

Jaskier did manage to find a jewelry vendor that didn't object to the sight of Geralt, which was fortunate since Geralt was sticking to Jaskier's heels like a second shadow as the market continued to fill up. Jaskier started to lead the way back to the inn when Geralt began flinching at loud noises.

He stopped to admire some wonderfully glazed pottery, only to have Geralt grab him by the shoulder and yank him away when a crowd started to form at the booth next to them.

"You weren't going to actually buy any of those, were you?" Geralt asked as he kept dragging Jaskier away, fingers digging into Jaskier's shoulder.

"No, just thought they were pretty. Can we switch grips here darling?"

Geralt let go of Jaskier like he'd been burned. "Sorry," he mumbled, barely audible over the noise of the crowd around them.

"It's perfectly okay." Jaskier grabbed Geralt's hand and threaded their fingers together. "Come on, let's get you back to the inn."

Geralt relaxed a bit once they got back to their room and out of the crowded city streets.

"Better?" Jaskier asked as he closed the door behind them.

"Yeah," Geralt said reluctantly. "Sorry to cut your trip short. You didn't have to come back with me."

"Oh, I was out of money anyways, not to worry." Jaskier admired his new ring in the light from the window. "I'll see if they'll let me play tonight, then maybe I can go out again tomorrow and pick up some of the other things I was looking at, if they're still there." Jaskier turned around and caught sight of the way Geralt had tensed back up. "Oh no, don't worry, Geralt, I won't make you go back out there with me, you seemed to have a bad enough time with it today."

Geralt's shoulders slumped in relief.

"Is the noise really all that overwhelming? You seem to do fine when we pass through villages on market days."

"It's the layers of it that build up. In a village there's almost always something quieter I can focus on somewhere nearby. In cities," Geralt grimaced, "there's too much and it drowns out anything else."

"That's really fascinating." Jaskier pulled out his notebook and scribbled that down for future reference.

Geralt huffed behind him. "I'm going to go see how Roach is."

"See you later, darling," Jaskier called as Geralt left the room.

\---

Geralt spent the next three days it took for his armour to be finished pacing across their room at the inn and fussing over Roach, brushing her until her coat gleamed and frightening all of the stable boys, from what Jaskier picked up from the gossip. Jaskier made a killing playing at a nearby tavern every night, and he began to hear some of the people at the markets humming a few of his compositions. The first time it happened he went running back to the inn to tell Geralt the good news. Geralt didn't seem to quite understand the importance of it for himself, but he seemed well enough pleased on Jaskier's behalf.

Jaskier would have loved to stay in the city longer, and he'd even thought of begging Geralt to stick around just a couple more days, but on that final afternoon he came back to the room to find Geralt in bed, his head stuffed between two pillows. He flinched where Jaskier asked him what was wrong and growled out "headache" without moving the pillows.

Jaskier tiptoed back out of the room and resigned himself to leaving the next day -- asking Geralt to stay any longer in a place that so clearly disagreed with him would be cruel.


	4. Puppy Piles / Cuddling

Geralt was aimlessly cracking bones and sucking out the marrow while Jaskier tried to get a chord progression right when Geralt froze and stared off into the woods surrounding them.

Jaskier stopped strumming and tried to follow Geralt's gaze out into the trees, but he couldn't make out anything beyond the little circle of light cast by their fire.

Geralt launched himself out into the darkness, paying no mind to Jaskier's "Geralt!" called after him.

"What is he doing now?" Jaskier set down his lute and kept trying to look out into the woods, rubbing his hands nervously against his trousers.

There was a growl out in the woods that Jaskier thought sounded like Geralt, answered by one that was deeper and louder.

"Oh, I don't like the sound of that at all," Jaskier stood up, eyes still fixed on the darkness where Geralt had disappeared, for all the good it did him. There were sounds of a scuffle, a snarl, then the sound of rushing wind (Geralt must have cast Aard) and a yelp. There were a few more quieter snarls, another one of those deep, threatening growls, and then silence for a few long minutes until a huge man stepped into the light of the fire carrying Geralt cradled in his arms with a big black horse following behind. Jaskier nearly leapt out of his skin at their sudden appearance.

"Geralt," the man -- another witcher judging by the eyes -- said, shoulders slumping a little, "you didn't explain a thing about this to your bard, did you?"

Geralt just rumbled deep in his chest and nuzzled into the other witcher's neck.

The witcher sighed and sat down by the fire, arranging Geralt's pliant body in his lap. "Hello, Jaskier, I'm Eskel, one of Geralt's fellow Wolf Witchers. Sorry to scare you with that little display."

"He won't be scared," Geralt finally joined the conversation, peering at Jaskier over his shoulder. "He'll think it's very interesting and write about it in his little book."

"Pleased to meet you, Eskel!" Jaskier said, coming to sit down next to the pile of witcher. "And Geralt is regrettably right," Jaskier's fingers were itching for his notebook already, "although I would have much appreciated a warning of some kind, or at the very least an assurance that you weren't darting off to fight some monster armed only with your fangs, Geralt."

Geralt grinned, exposing said fangs. "But that's exactly what I was doing."

Jaskier's eyes darted to Eskel to see how he took that statement; Eskel just rolled his eyes and knocked his knuckles lightly against Geralt's jaw.

"We weren't properly socialized as children," Eskel said to Jaskier, sinking his fingers into Geralt's hair, "and Geralt's had a harder time catching up than the rest of us."

Geralt growled and nipped at Eskel's jaw.

"Okay, come here, Wolf." Eskel wrapped his arms around Geralt, smothering him with a hug.

Geralt made a little trilling noise and squeezed Eskel back, burying his face in Eskel's neck.

Jaskier wasn't quite sure if he should be jealous, or if this was a normal display of friendly affection among witchers. A lump was rising in his throat all the same at the sight of Geralt being so casual with his touches toward another person, which was stupid either way -- it wasn't like he had any claim on Geralt's touches in the first place.

They separated after several long moments, Geralt getting up to unwrap some of the leftovers from their dinner to give to Eskel.

"Why are you traveling so late into the evening?" Geralt asked as he handed Eskel the food, sitting down so close he was practically in Eskel's lap again.

"Wanted to get to town and hopefully sleep in a bed for once," Eskel said between bites. "Are you coming from there?"

"Yeah. Cleaned up the only contract they had."

"Bad luck for me, I suppose," Eskel sighed. "Where are you headed next?"

"Back north. No real destination in mind. But if you've come from that way I'll keep heading west."

"No, I came from the west, better keep your original plan. I suppose I'll head south then, if you've snapped up all the contracts to the east already."

"Yeah, I have." Geralt leaned into Eskel as Eskel finished eating. "Go cuddle your bard for a minute," Eskel shrugged Geralt off and stood up, "I've got to get Scorpion settled."

Geralt huffed his displeasure, but he stayed seated as Eskel went to take care of his horse, who had wandered no farther than Roach while Eskel was occupied.

"Is he your lover?" Jaskier asked Geralt quietly once Eskel seemed suitably distracted.

Geralt pulled a face and Eskel laughed, clearly not as distracted as Jaskier had hoped. "No," Geralt said decisively. "He's my brother."

"Oh. Then the cuddling and the neck-biting and whatever rolling around in the woods you did...?"

"Sounds incriminating when you put it like that," Geralt grimaced. Then he shrugged a bit helplessly. "It's... I don't know. Instinct, maybe. Feels good to wrestle a bit and... cuddle." Geralt ducked his head on that last word.

"We don't usually get to hug people," Eskel put in. "Makes us feel a bit starved for it when we find one of our own."

Jaskier frowned and scooted closer to Geralt. "You can hug me, you know. My ribs are a little more fragile than both of yours, but I could help tide you over, at least."

Geralt looked at Jaskier from under his lashes for a moment before he launched himself at Jaskier in one of his inhumanly fast bursts of movement to wrap his arms firmly around Jaskier's shoulders.

Jaskier startled for a moment at the suddenness, then hugged Geralt back fiercely when he tried to pull away. "No, you're fine," Jaskier said into Geralt's shoulder. "You just move faster than I can track sometimes."

Geralt hummed and nuzzled his face into Jaskier's neck for a moment before getting up and trotting over to Eskel again.

That night they all slept in a pile despite the summer warmth, and when Jaskier woke up sweating in the middle of the night he found Geralt smiling in his sleep where he was squished between Jaskier and Eskel.


	5. Purring

Jaskier was never going to get over being invited to Kaer Morhen to spend the winter with Geralt. For one thing, the songs wrote themselves about an ancient witcher keep. For another, Jaskier was thrilled to be able to meet Eskel and Lambert for longer than the few minutes or hours that was all they afforded to accidental crossings on the Path, and to finally meet the man Geralt called his father.

When they made it to the keep, Jaskier shivering with cold despite being wrapped in a frankly impractical number of jackets and furs, Geralt threw himself off of Roach and ran smack-bang into Eskel's chest with the biggest grin Jaskier had ever seen him wear.

Eskel grunted at the force of impact and squeezed Geralt tight to his chest. "Missed you, too, Wolf," Eskel said, nuzzling into Geralt's neck.

Geralt tilted his face to rub their cheeks together, then pulled away from Eskel to face the other witcher there to greet them -- Jaskier was guessing this must be Vesemir.

"Geralt," Vesemir smiled and opened his arms. Geralt rushed at him faster than Jaskier's eye could track and Vesemir chuckled as he wrapped Geralt up in a hug. "Easy, boy. I see you've finally brought your bard with you this year."

"Yes!" Geralt sprang back and ran back to Jaskier's side, pulling him off of his horse with a yelp from Jaskier.

"Geralt, I can get down myself if you'd only give me a minute."

Eskel chuckled and Geralt ignored Jaskier entirely, turning back to face the older witcher again. "This is Jaskier," he said, his warm hand wrapping around Jaskier's. "Jaskier, this is Vesemir."

Jaskier gave a short bow and looked up to see Vesemir hiding a smile behind his moustache. "Pleased to meet you, Vesemir."

"And I you," Vesemir said. "With you around we might all get a break from Geralt's moping and pining."

"Moping and pining, hm?" Jaskier grinned, turning towards Geralt.

Geralt groaned and buried his face in Jaskier's neck. "I miss you in the winter," he said quietly, as if this was a secret.

Jaskier hadn't thought this was a secret at all based on the number of rib-creaking hugs he got from Geralt in the early spring over the past few years. "I miss you too, as you know," Jaskier said instead of getting into all of that.

Geralt hummed and pulled away. "Come on, let's get our things in and the horses settled."

"We'll take care of the horses." Eskel clapped Geralt on the shoulder and moved past him to take Roach's reigns.

"You boys get your things and go get unpacked. Who is this handsome fellow?" Vesemir asked as he approached Jaskier's horse, patting it on the neck.

"That's Pegasus," Jaskier said, moving to unfasten his saddlebags.

"Hello, then, Pegasus," Vesemir crooned to the horse and he stroked its nose. "You've got quite the name to live up to, haven't you?"

Jaskier began to see, with some delight, where Geralt might have come by his love of horses.

"Come on," Geralt appeared at Jaskier's side and pulled the last bag off of Pegasus, "it's freezing out here, let's get inside."

"Will Jaskier be wanting his own room?" Vesemir asked. "I only aired out yours, Geralt, since I wasn't sure."

"We'll share," Geralt answered before Jaskier could open his mouth. "Too cold for Jaskier to be on his own."

Vesemir nodded and lead Pegasus back towards the stables, and Geralt hurried Jaskier inside the keep and then up a terribly excessive number of steps before arriving in Geralt's room at the top of a tower.

"Wow," Jaskier panted, dropping his bags and going to the window. "Your view is incredible!" The tower provided a commanding view of the valley below the keep, and of the wall of mountains on the other side of the valley.

"Yeah." Geralt came up next to Jaskier, wrapping an arm around his waist. "One of the things that makes up for the cold." Geralt let Jaskier look for a few minutes before tugging him back into the room. "Unpack first, then we can laze around."

"Alright, if we must."

After dinner that night, Geralt showed Jaskier the biggest thing that made up for the cold when he and Eskel lead Jaskier down underneath the keep to a hot spring.

"Geralt you absolute bastard," Jaskier gaped at the pools of steaming water, "I cannot believe you didn't tell me about this!"

Geralt laughed.

Jaskier turned to glare at him, only to gape again when he found Geralt nearly naked and bending over to pull of his boots and trousers. Jaskier felt his face flush hot and Eskel laughed at him.

Geralt shot Eskel a confused look before trotting over to one of the pools and sinking in with a pleased little sigh.

Jaskier groaned and started stripping off his own clothes to follow. He got into the pool with Geralt, Eskel right behind him, and did his best not to stare at all the beautiful naked skin that was surrounding him. The fact that he was stuck out in the wilderness surrounded by beautiful men with only his hand for sexual satisfaction was suddenly becoming a lot more important than he had thought it would be.

\---

Lambert arrived two days later right before dinner, just as loud as he had been the previous two times Jaskier had met him and complaining about his aches and pains from the climb. He dragged everyone down with him to the hot springs after eating, sinking into the hottest pool with an indulgent groan that made Jaskier flush bright red and sparked off another round of teasing from Eskel. He didn't understand how everyone else could be so unaffected, whether they thought of each other as brothers or not.

Jaskier climbed out the the springs first, his poor human constitution hot able to handle being boiled for nearly so long as the witchers liked to lounge around in the hot water. He took the chance to work on some poetry up in Geralt's room, watching the last brilliant streaks of sunset before they disappeared behind the mountains. He ventured back down to the main hall after an hour or so, wondering what Geralt had got up to that was stopping him from coming back to his room.

What he found when he entered the hall was Geralt, Lambert, and Eskel asleep in a pile in front of the fire, sounding for all the world like a huge housecat purring its heart out. Jaskier tiptoed over to see if he could tell who was making the noise.

"Adorable when they're asleep, aren't they?" Vesemir said.

Jaskier startled and looked around wildly before realizing Vesemir was sitting in a chair facing away from Jaskier.

"They are," Jaskier agreed, coming forward enough to be able to see Vesemir, who was knitting as he watched over his pups. "Are they purring?"

"Geralt is," Vesemir said. "He's the only one that does, an unexpected side effect of the extra trials."

"Really? I've never heard him do it before." Jaskier crept a little closer, trying to make out Geralt better, although it was nearly impossible with his face buried in Eskel's neck and Lambert draped over Geralt's chest.

"As far as I know he only does it here. Only happens when he's feeling both perfectly safe and content."

"That's surprisingly cute," Jaskier smiled.

As he watched, Geralt's eyes cracked open and he grinned when he caught sight of Jaskier.

"C'mere," Geralt said, wriggling an arm free to hold out to Jaskier.

"I don't know if I'll fit," Jaskier said as he approached the pile of witchers.

"We'll make room," Eskel rumbled, rolling back slightly from Geralt while Geralt shifted Lambert's still-sleeping form off to the other side of his chest.

"If you insist." Jaskier let Geralt and Eskel pull him down and arrange him to their liking, until Jaskier's head was pillowed on Geralt's chest opposite Lambert, one of Geralt's arms wrapped around him and Eskel tucked up tight against his back.

Geralt started purring again as he buried his face in Jaskier's hair, and the sound was so soothing paired with the clicking of Vesemir's knitting needles above them that Jaskier was asleep within minutes.


	6. +1 Time Geralt Was All Too Human

For once Jaskier was sorry for the winter to end, and with it his time with the other witchers. Lambert was the first to go as soon as the pass looked clear from the walls, eager to get back into the world again.

Geralt and Jaskier left next, Jaskier having promised a countess in Cidaris to grace her court for a month in the spring and time running short to make it at the pace they normally travelled, filled with detours to pick up contracts Geralt's soft heart wouldn't let him pass by.

"Was it... tolerable?" Geralt asked when they were half-way down The Killer.

"Geralt," Jaskier chuckled, "it was more than tolerable, it was a wonderful way to spend the winter."

"Do you think you'd like to come back?"

"Of course I would! Any year you'd have me, I'd be delighted to return with you."

Geralt smiled and looked away. "Good. I'd like to bring you, every year I can."

\---

Jaskier spent his month entertaining the countess' court in Cidaris with his new material from the winter, and Geralt found enough work to stay in the area. Jaskier dragged him to a few of the larger parties where he wouldn't be the most exciting person in attendance. Geralt suffered the attentions of the nobles with varying levels of grace, but no one was seriously offended and Jaskier got the pleasure of seeing Geralt well-fed and well-rested.

They left the court just in time to make it to a sizeable village for Belleteyn. The people there already knew Geralt, who had cleared their stream from a drowner infestation earlier in the spring, and they were still pleased enough with that that they didn't object to Geralt's presence at their festival.

Jaskier was in the thick of things from early on, playing, drinking, and eating to his heart's content. Geralt hovered on the edges of the crowd as always, wandering off out into the woods for a break when the noise got too much for him, but he seemed happy enough every time Jaskier bounced out to check on him.

The crowd started thinning as night wore on, couples pairing off with a charming tradition of giving your sweetheart a flower crown that the women had spent the last hour of daylight making.

Jaskier had just decided to search out Geralt again when the witcher appeared, jaw locked like he was about to get into a fight.

"Geralt?" Jaskier asked, swinging his lute around to his back. "Is everything alright, darling?"

Geralt nodded and came a few steps closer.

"No one's giving you a hard time, are they?" Jaskier reached out to cup Geralt's jaw. Geralt shook his head. "You look nervous, what's going on?"

"Nothing bad." Geralt growled. "I hope." He held up a flower crown between them. It was a little hard to make out in the flickering firelight, but Jaskier thought it was mainly buttercups. "For you," Geralt grunted.

Jaskier stared at Geralt in blank shock for a moment while Geralt gently set the crown on Jaskier's head.

"What, um, I mean, you do know what these are meant for, don't you?" Jaskier blurted. "Sex tonight, and then a bond for the year?"

"Yes." Geralt finished adjusting the crown to his liking and folded his arms across his chest. "They explained it to me earlier when I was making it. I know I'm a far cry from a beautiful maiden, but I thought... after this winter, and Lambert said, and--" Geralt shook his head and took a deep breath. "I thought there might be a chance."

Jaskier stepped forward and kissed Geralt until his jaw softened. "More than a chance," he murmured against Geralt's lips. "What did Lambert say, do I need to thank him or slap him next time I see him?"

Geralt huffed and looked down at his boots. "Said if I had any brain in my head I'd realize what it meant when you stared at me in the hot springs the way you did."

Jaskier laughed and stroked Geralt's cheek. "Well, I'd hoped that I'd been more subtle with that, but those baths were torture."

"Why?" Geralt cocked his head, looking back up at Jaskier. "We bathe around each other all the time."

"Normally you're not moaning decadently and sprawling out to show yourself off."

Geralt smiled and leaned in close to knock his forehead against Jaskier's. "So you accept my crown?"

"I'll accept a lot more than your crown," Jaskier grinned before leaning in for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm... still not the happiest with the ending, but I've already gone over the deadline fiddling with it and it's not getting better, so it just had to be posted! Might come back in February with fresh eyes and give it another try, lol.
> 
> This fic is [rebloggable on tumblr here](https://moretomhardy.tumblr.com/post/639358960928014336/tell-me-well-never-get-used-to-it)!
> 
> And you can come [visit me on tumblr here](https://moretomhardy.tumblr.com), where I mostly multi-ship Geralt these days.
> 
> Title is a line from the poem [Scheherazade, by Richard Siken](http://youngerpoets.yupnet.org/2008/04/22/scheherazade-crush-by-richard-siken/), which I first read due to someone equating it with limbo in Inception fandom, but I accidentally memorized it and it now lives rent free in my head.


End file.
